My Poem ‘Don’t be afraid of the dark’

Mark Hastings Poetry , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Don’t be afraid of the dark –
because it is in the dark
where we find the brightest lights
and the most beautiful sights
in the universe…
don’t afraid to close your eyes –
because when we close our eyes
we dream and we see
our internal hopes looking back at us…
don’t be afraid to believe
what you want to believe –
because it is in the act
and in the art of belief
that we learn to see
the beauty of things and people…
don’t be afraid to remember
where you have been and what you have seen –
because remembering is like time-traveling
into the past, and it can help you
to make sense of what you see
and where you find yourself in the world.

When I was a child I was afraid of the dark –
but then I found out what had been waiting
for me all my life, one night while I was staring
up at a sky full of stars…
it was like one of the stars has descended to Earth
from the heavens and had indelibly left its mark…
while growing up I discovered
that even silent nights are filled with music,
and even seemingly blank pages
are secretly emanating inspiration…
the more that I have lived
the more that I have been bitten
repeatedly by the bug of universal fascination.

I used to be afraid of dark rooms –
however, now I find them fascinating places…
I used to be scared of walking dark streets at night…
I used to have this fear about people
forgetting my name and my face –
but now I know that there is more to see
than what can be seen with our eyes…
there is so much more that contributes
to the answer that we all give when we die,
when we are asked: what was the meaning of your life?

Hold on to no fear…
don’t miss what you do not need…
hold onto what and who you love –
even if doing so sometimes brings you to tears…
don’t be afraid to ask for help –
because there is always someone
who can hear you and will listen…
letting go of something makes you realize
why it is important to hold on to something
for as long as you can –
but sometimes life can go by so fast
that when you look back on everything you have done
it can seem like the still image
of a picture-postcard photograph…
sometimes it is where and when
you do not expect to find things
that you come face to face with miracles –
so, if you have children do not forget
to teach them, and remind everyone else,
that is against the blackest of backgrounds
that we see the brightest of sparks…
and it is ok to open and close your eyes
and to not be afraid of the dark.

My Poem ‘Forget Me Not’

Mark Hastings Poetry , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

One season is winding-down,
another season is rising…
one season is out-staying its welcome,
another is fast-approaching…
as always, there is a transition taking place…
there is a change of colour in nature’s palette,
and a different air of feeling on nature’s face…
the planet is turning, the world is changing…
everybody is slowly preparing for what is to come,
and there will soon be an end to all the waiting
when nature starts calling for us all
to live for the moment that we find ourselves in…
soon the flowers of Summer will rise, bloom, and shine –
and like each and every one of us
lift up their heads towards the bright energy
of the sun’s intense light.

There are a great many things that are seasonal
and are only seen when the time is right…
during the winter, people wear blacks, whites,
dark-browns, and shades of grey…
when it is spring, greens, blues, yellows,
and reds start to recur and be seen
in many choices of fashion –
perhaps they can be noticed more
because the nights start to become short
and there are now more hours of daylight?
During the summer, it is like
there is a festival of colour going on
all over the world –
from San Francisco to London,
and from France to Australia:
vibrant, energizing, mesmerizing,
and breathtaking colours that keep people
feeling good and smiling…
and when autumn reveals itself,
there are wonderful tones, echoes,
and signatures of warm browns, orange,
and copper everywhere you look –
on the leaves of the trees,
in the colour of the coats that people wear,
and even the air has an ambiance,
an accent, a smell, a fall-fullness,
and a feeling that you can only find and feel
in the autumn months in which
the celebrations of Halloween,
Guy Fawkes Night in the UK,
Thanksgiving in the US takes place…
and when forget-me-not flowers grow
and show their memorable colour-combination
of yellow and blue.

Everybody has their favourite season
and their favourite time of the year…
everybody longs to revisit memorable experiences
that they have lived…
everybody knows that when the time is right
certain things that we want to do
we will just do, because they feel right…
everybody is familiar with the many faces
of our beautiful and constantly changing planet,
and when the touch of the season that we love so much
touches our skin, and overwhelms our senses –
that is when we all enjoy
and we make the most of
every moment that we would
find so hard to ever forget.

My Poem ‘Wild Lightning’

Mark Hastings Poetry , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Ever since the moment
I first saw your face,
ever since the moment
I first knew your name,
ever since the moment
our worlds collided
and our hearts exploded
when we first fell in love,
ever since the moment
you became a part of my life
and your spirit merged with mine,
I have loved you like I have never loved
anyone or anything before –
and every day I know for sure
that as long as I have you
I could never want or need
anyone or anything more.

To me, every day when we are together
is always special…
to me, I cannot think of anything better
or anywhere I would rather be
than being with you…
to me, you have always been,
and you always will be,
the most beautiful woman in the entire world…
since the moment I fell madly in love with you,
to me you have given me more
than any artist has ever been given
or has ever been inspired by any muse.

Missing you is torture…
being loved by you is the best!
With every day that passes,
every second that I look at your perfect face
and I marvel at the perfection
of your smile that I adore,
no matter where I am
I long to leap to wherever you are
and tell you I love you –
just before I kiss you on the lips.

When I look into your eyes
I feel like Thor, the God of Thunder…
when you and I touch each-other
I feel the most incredible
and unbelievable feeling of electricity
all over my body…
when you say my name it is
an absolute moment of magic
that to me is always breath-taking…
for me, always and forever,
it will always be you and no other…
all I ever want in my life is you –
because you are the one who makes me happy…
from the moment we first met
there has been an unending energy between us,
and I know that when we think of one-another
within our minds it is like
being inside a cloud charged
with an infinite number of bolts and volts
of uncontainable wild lightning.

My Poem ‘Trailblazer’

Mark Hastings Poetry , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Very few of us are the first
to do something…
most of us are following
in the footsteps of other people…
there are some people who can see things
that are beyond what they have always been taught
to believe in…
sometimes a one of a kind idea
can be enough to light
the touch-paper of consciousness
and reveal something so powerful
that in the wrong hands
could be truly lethal.

We are all the still pulsating and emanating light
of an epic spark – the moment of miracle
that began reality, a long time ago,
somewhere far-away…
orbs of fire, light, energy, and hope
shine every second in a dark-sky
all around us…
there are always signs,
there are always recommendations,
steering and influencing us all
to follow a certain path –
however, sometimes those paths
can be shrouded with the shadow of uncertainty…
the stars of the universe tell their own stories,
they have a life, and they burn brightly,
and they are secret keepers and teachers of all life –
and the most important lesson that they teach us is:
when life is as good as can possibly get,
then why would you rush any moment of it?

We follow others, others will follow us…
some roads are long and a clear-run
to a specific destination,
while others are bumpy and rough…
I have always wanted to be a pathfinder –
someone who knows how amazing
and intoxicating it can be
to be the discoverer of a thing
or a place of wonder…
it is always hard for anyone
to come up with a truly original idea –
however, I believe that in our own way,
and in our own fields of exploration,
with each step that we take
we become one of life’s true trailblazers.

My Poem ‘Mum & Son’

Mark Hastings Poetry , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

There is a woman
who has known me all my life…
there is a woman
who loves her family more than anything…
there is a woman
who knows how important it is,
no matter how hard it can feel,
to stand up against an aggressive adversary
and to not give up
when you have got to fight to stay alive…
there is a woman
who looks just as beautiful bald
as she does with a full-head of hair…
there is a woman, a mother,
who has a son, Mark,
and a daughter, Clare…
there is a woman
who knows and who sees
the true face of love and happiness
in the eyes of her husband, David…
there is a woman… my Mum, Bernadette,
who has loved me, who has thought about me,
and who has cared about me every day
that I have lived…
there is no other like my Mum…
there is only one son for this Mum,
and only one Mum for this son…
there is a woman – a wife, a mother –
who daily does the impossible
for the people who she loves…
no matter what she has been through,
there is a woman who has continued
to smile, to stay positive,
and to never give up hope…
there is a woman
who is the eternal friend
to those who are blessed to know her
better than anyone –
her husband, her children…
there is one woman
who I am writing this poem for,
for Mother’s Day…
because I love my Mum!

My Poem ‘Be Poetic’

Mark Hastings Poetry , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Write what you see…
write what you feel…
write what you believe…
write about your dreams…
write about what is real…
wake up early,
walk towards the eastern horizon
and watch the sun rising every morning…
stay up late at night
until the hours of twilight
and watch the stars shine brightly
and feel their light get inside you…
and what you see… and what you feel…
and what you believe, and what you dream
will fill your mind with wonder
and spark your imagination
when you put pen to paper, or finger to key,
and will become a part of your art
and your writing, and it will change you
and bring into your heart a muse of inspiration
that is amazing and beautiful.

Poetry is not just words…
poetry is not just something that can be written…
if you really want to write or make anything poetic
then all you have to do is open your eyes,
open your heart, look around yourself,
look within yourself, and draw on everything
that your instincts and your senses cannot deny,
and then pick up whatever you use to express yourself
and share what it is that you feel and care about.

Write about anything –
no matter if it’s light, or dark, funny, or sad,
whether it makes you cry, or if it makes you laugh…
write today… write right now…
look around you… look inside you…
think… feel… don’t be afraid… don’t hesitate…
close your eyes… breath in, breath out…
open your eyes, and write like there is no tomorrow…
because today is the day for all poets
to show what they are made of…
be poetic, because today is World Poetry Day!

Happy World Poetry Day! 🙂

My Poem ‘Good morning, sunshine’

Mark Hastings Poetry , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I’m not a song-writer,
I’m a story-teller…
I’m a believer,
but I’m not a fortune-teller…
I have been doing what I do
for longer than I can remember,
doing what I do is both a curse
and a life-saver…
if I could talk to God
I would ask him a favour:
help me, help you,
inspire the world
and give hope to the sick,
the needy, and the poor –
because that is what I want to do
and that is who I want to be…
I want to have the words within me
to change the world
and make everybody understand
that every day is like a new song
that has never been played or heard before,
and every conversation in every language
that is spoken is pure unfiltered poetry.

We all have an oasis in this world…
we all have a place on this Earth
that for us has this lure…
we all have reasons for doing
what we do between sunrise and sunset…
we all have reasons for feeling
happiness and for getting upset –
we are all thinking and feeling human-beings,
we are not unfeeling machines…
we care and we worry about personal things…
we all know what is in our heart
and we all think about “what could have been”.

We don’t have long to figure out
what we are meant to do…
growing up, sometimes we all have to go
with the flow of a tune that we don’t really know…
most of the time, if you don’t have someone else
holding you up and pushing you forward
then you can feel like you are walking
and wavering on a tight-rope
between two tent-poles.

I have been around the world…
I have met people both evil and kind…
I have been on occasion lost for words –
but since the day I met the angel,
my angel, Melissa, all I see
is true heavenly-beauty
every time I look at her face
and she says to me:
“good morning, sunshine”.

My Poem ‘Waiting…’

Mark Hastings Poetry , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Waiting… waiting…
I’m waiting for something…
I’m waiting for something,
and for this thing
I have been waiting all morning…
I used to think that I was good at waiting –
for my birthday, for Christmas, for the weekend…
when I was a kid I knew that within no time at all
my favourite days of the week and the year
would come around again
and within the blink of an eye
they always did…
but, I am all grown up now –
and as I wait now
for what I am waiting for to arrive and be delivered,
I now know the true meaning of the song lyric:
“the waiting is the hardest part”…
did I mention that I am waiting for something?

I have been keeping myself and my attention occupied
while I wait, I have been doing things
that I have not done for years –
but since I cannot leave the house,
and there is no one else
who can sign for my delivery for me,
I knew that I would have to keep
my eyes from constantly
looking at the time while I am waiting…
so I cleaned – I cleaned my bedroom window,
I cleaned the dirty-dishes from the night before –
I listened to music, I sat looking out the window…
thinking… wondering… waiting…
and now here I am, writing, still waiting,
and anticipating…
my morning and my day started early,
as it always does –
but now it is 2 o’clock in the afternoon,
and I am still waiting.

Waiting for what?
What is this something that is so special
that I would stay at home all day and wait for it?
Well, it is something special indeed that is coming –
something that you could say I am connected to,
and the reason that this something even exists…
what I am waiting for is something
that I have spent a long time invested in,
and as I wait for what I hope will soon arrive
I am even starting to have flash-backs
to my first encounter with the idea
of what is beimg delivered,
and I think about the journey that I and it
have already taken with each-other –
all those mornings… all those nights…
all those words… all those internal fights.

When you are doing things,
time literally flies away from you…
when you are watching something,
talking about something,
and when you take your mind off of something,
then the waiting for something
can be a little more bearable,
and less mind-numbing –
but waiting can sometimes be a good thing…
waiting can be exciting…
waiting can also be boring,
especially if you have been
counting how much time
you have actually been waiting…
time is a wasting –
but maybe it’s not?
At least I got to do something
to fill my time while I was waiting:
I wrote this poem that you are now reading –
so at least something worthwhile
came about and was born out of
all the time that I have been waiting…

My Poem ‘The Fighter’

Mark Hastings Poetry , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

It’s important to fight…
it’s important to never give up…
it’s important to open your eyes
and look towards the light…
it’s important to never forget
who and what has made you…
and, above all-else,
it is important to always have
something and someone within your mind
and in your heart that you love.

You may feel like you have reached
the end of the road…
you may feel like you have arrived
at the end of the world…
you may believe that there is
no longer anything more to be said or wrote –
and then a new day will begin,
the sun rises again,
and you can go from being lost for words
to overflowing with emotion…
and over time the hurt that you feel
from a painful experience that you have been through
you can learn to use as a form of protection
and defense… like a sword.

To surrender, to submit, to sit down motionless
and quiet can seem like the easiest thing to do…
to not make a fuss, to not fight back,
to not stand up from what you believe in,
because you know that your opinion
might be in the minority
can sometimes seem like the best way
most of the time to keep the peace –
however if everybody did that,
if everybody just took everything for granted
and they did not open their eyes fully
and truly saw all the people
and everything that is necessary
and important to know about our planet,
then none of us would ever truly
know ourselves… and we would give up
before we discover why we are all here on Earth,
and where we are supposed to be,
and what we are supposed to do.

In the wild… in the world of the wolverines,
the wolf, the natural predators of the animal-kingdom
of planet Earth that live in the woods,
in the forests, in the air, in the oceans,
in the deserts, in the places where
only the strongest is made, meant, able,
and accustomed to live and survive –
that is where the fittest, the biggest, the toughest,
walk, run, swim, feed, kill or be killed,
and who as a species have learned
over countless generations
that to be a true survivor
in this sometimes wild world
you have to be a fighter.

My Novel ‘The Wolf In Me’ is out now!

Mark Hastings books , , , , , , , , , ,

“This is the tale of Olivia Hunter… this is the tale of how she lived, how she died, and how she was reborn. This is the story of an ordinary young woman propelled into an extraordinary world.”

My novel ‘The Wolf In Me’ is out now! And you can get a copy of my new book and my first novel from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Barnes&Noble, The Book Depository, and many other online book sellers, in paperback and as an ebook!

You can also listen to me talking about ‘The Wolf In Me’, what it’s about, and why I wrote it:

I hope you enjoy reading my new book and my first novel!

-Mark